Fear
by AutumnBreeze25
Summary: After years of being stuck in the Ghost Zone, Phantasma's back with a vengence. Her first victim? None other then our dear Ghost Boy. :A new oneshot by the author of 'Sleep':


_Hello all! I'm back again, and with a new one-shot! -silence- Well, fine, be like that. Sheesh. I still want you to read it. Though it could be bad, I put time and effort into this!_

_DISCLAIMER: As always, I do not own this, nor any other, tv show._

* * *

"There is only one universal passion: fear."

**--George Bernard Shaw**

* * *

_**-Fear-**_

"So we meet again, Phantom. And you've grown up, haven't you?" Phantasma smiled bitterly at the halfa floating in the air three yards from her. Twenty-four year old Danny frowned in an annoyed manner.

"What do you want?" he demanded impatiently. Danny had been having a very bad day. The little sleep he did get was interrupted constantly by a crying baby. His job wasn't going too well, and to top it all off, heand Sam had had a big fight just before he left the house, making his bad mood even worse.

Phantasma inspected her long black fingernails in a bored fashion.

"Why, revenge of course. You can't expect me to be happy about spending the last eight years in the Ghost Zone, can you?"

"I--"

"Do you know how _dismal_ it is in there?" Phantasma's eyes flared a deeper, deadly pink, her peaceful demeanor shattered. "The only men I can make live out their worst nightmares are already _dead_! All they fear is that stupid thermos you carry around!"

"Look!" Danny shouted loudly. " I'm sorry the Ghost Zone isn't 'lively' enough for you, but I can't let you go around tormenting people here!"

"Well, then. . ." Phantasma faded out of sight. Nervously, Danny looked around. She materialized closely behind Danny, delicately placing her hands on his shoulders. "I suppose you'll have to do," she whispered in his ear.

Before Danny could do anything, Amity Park disappeared around him. As far as he could see was solid black. The only light came from Phantasma, who was glowing a soft pink. She draped an arm around the halfa's shoulders.

_'Observe,'_ the ghost's silky voice spoke.Her voice seemed to be in his mind more then anywhere else. _'Fear can be a glorious thing . . . it keeps us from doing dangerous activities and contributes to our common sense. But for the most part, it is not. . .'_

An image of a city in ruins came into view. Some of the buildings where smoldering, others burning, and some where glowing green under the protection of what was left of the ghost shields. There was a singed sign on the ground that had read 'Amity Park: A Nice Place to Live.' Danny stared in horror. He could feel the heat from the flames and smell the burnt wood and plastic.

It was all too real. . .

_'You fear that in the end you won't be able to protect the city and the people you've dedicated a good portion of your life too. What more, you fear that you will be the one that destroys it in the end. . .'_

The image shifted. The infamous Dan Phantom was floating above a broken down Fenton Works, laughing manically over the city he had destroyed. The scene lingered a few moments before Danny was surrounded by the blackness again. Danny felt Phantasma fly around him, touching his cheek in what would have been a loving way in another other scenario.

_'But even more you fear you will fail your friends and family.'_

Danny's parents, his sister and her young family appeared in the Fenton's lived in family room. Jazz's husband bounced their baby girl on his knee while she laughed. Tucker and his girlfriend joined them. They were all smiling and talking. The happy picture faded out to show a grave yard. Seven graves were all lined up, each bearing the occupant's name.

_'Your scared that one day, when the world finds out who you really are, they'll turn against you . . . That your parents will no longer love you since you are one of the creatures they hate.'_

Danny frowned and said, "My parents would love me no matter what!" Phatasma just continued to ignore his input.

_'Aw, the poor little Ghost Child,'_ Phantasma purred. _'Scared to loose his wife. . .'_

"Sam!" Danny cried in a strangled voice. His wife replaced his friends and family in the darkness, dressed in pale lilac, holding a white lily. She almost mirrored the legendary Snow White in death . . . too lovely to be gone, too beautiful to be buried in the cold ground.

_'. . .Scared to loose your new baby boy like the daughter you held in your arms not even two years ago...'_

The month old baby Erik appeared. He was cooing and smiling, oblivious to the fact that one day his life would be filled with complications . . . Complications that could have been avoided if not for ghosts. Danny tried to reach what he believed to be his son, but as he got closer, he disappeared. A small grave marking on a hill took his place. On the granite read, "Ani Emere Fenton, Beloved Daughter, Granddaughter, and Niece, May 7 - 10, 2012."

_'She never had a chance did she? With you as a father? Poor baby Ani.'_

"That wasn't my fault!"

_'Of course not, love. You didn't purposely leave your 24 week pregnant wife alone during a ghost invasion. But the fact still remains that Samantha got hurt badly, sending her into labor early.'_

Danny covered his face with his hands. He remember that day all too well. It haunted him almost annoyingly like the Box Ghost.

Though he had wanted to stay, Sam sent him away to help out the others fight ghosts. Reluctantly he went, not assured by her encouragements. While he was away, stray ghosts attacked the building where Sam, a few other women, and the children of Amity Park were hiding. The ghost shield was disabled, and they were able to get in. Sam told the other ladies to get the children out while she tried to distract the ghosts. She had gotten seriously hurt while trying to keep the children safe, which hadsent her into labor. Three pound, one ounce Ani was born five hours later in the hospital's ER. She was immediately sent the the NICU, and Sam was sent to the ICU.

A day passed. Sam was released from the ICU. The next day Danny and Sam were allowed to meet their daughter for the first time. She was so tiny, a tuft of bright red hair was on her head. The doctors did all they could, but she didn't make it. She died three days after her birth, one day after her parents could meet her, and only five hours after they named her.

Sam took the baby's death hard, refusing to eat for ages. She sat at the window of her bedroom all day, neither caring nor worrying about anything else. Danny sat home with her weeks on end, trying to get her to do something. It was the longest six months he'd ever experienced and didn't want to go through again.

_'She's better off anyway. She probably would have been a misrible failure like you. A pathetic, overly--Augh!'_

"Don't you EVER talk about my daughter like that!" Danny shouted at the stunned ghost. "Nothing gives you the right orreason—"

Phantasma lazily shot an ecto-plasmic blast at Danny. Pink light engulfed him for a second then faded.

_'You have no power over what I can and can't do! This is my realm. I can do anything I want while we are within it.'_

"We'll just have to change that, now won't we?" Danny muttered before taking a deep breath. A split second of eerie stillness passed before he let out his Ghostly Wail. Slowly the blackness that surrounded him faded back into a lilac twilight.

When it was over, Phantasma lay on the ground thirty feet from Danny, unconscious. Shaking slightly, Danny detached the thermos that was hanging off his belt and sucked Phantasma inside before she woke up. He landed none too gracefully on the ground and changed back into his human form.

"Never again," he murmured and sat down with a "thump." Stupid ghost of nightmares. Danny knew what he was afraid of already. He didn't need to have everything pointed out to him like that. He wasn't as clueless as most people thought.

Danny sat on the ground, motionless, trying to get the energy to stand up once more.

"Danny? Danny!" Sam's voice pierced the darkness of his mind. Glancing towards the sound, Danny saw her dashing towards him.

"Are you alright?"

"Where's Erik?" Danny asked softly.

"In his stroller," Sam replied, pointing back the way she'd come."I took him out for a walk, hoping he'd sleep."

"Why did you leave him—"

"I thought you were hurt—"

"You can't leave a baby—"

"I was afraid that something had happened—"

"Alone."

"To you."

". . .I'll go get him." Sam walked back over to the stroller and unstrapped the baby. Carefully she carried him back over to where Danny was still sitting, pulling the stroller along beside her. Sam gracefully folded her legs under her and sat down.

"He's okay?" Danny reached over and stroked the sleeping infant's head. His bit of red hair was already messier then Danny's always appeared.

"He's _fine_."

"What about you?"

"I'm sleepy but otherwise alright." Sam held Erik out to Danny. He gently took his son and rocked him a bit. "Is something wrong, Danny?"

"Phantasma's back."

"Where? Should I call Tucker? DoesJazz—"

"Sam, I got her." Danny nodded towards the thermos between them.

"Then what's wrong?"

"She--I was stupid and let her get control of me . . . She brought up Dan and Ani . . ." Sam put her hand on Danny's shoulder sympathetically.

"Dan will never be, Danny. I know you. You care too much to turn away from those you love. And as for Ani, I've told you over and over that it's not your fault. It's no one's fault except mine for putting myself in danger like that. And while we lost a daughter, we now have a son, Danny. Another child that will need us to love and care for him, and not to be looked upon as a replacement for his sister."

Silence filled the are once more as Danny reflected on what Sam had said. He turned to her once more a serious but sad expression on his face.

"Phantasma did manage to do one good thing."

"What?"

"She made me realize how much I love you and Erik. She made me realize that how much I love you goes beyond my comprehension, that I never would be able to go on through life without you or Erik."

Sam had an uncharacteristically soft look on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but Danny interrupted her.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"Our fight? Danny, we've always had fights. Even when we were first married.We're just overly tired right now.That's all."

"I know . . ." Danny looked down at Erik's serene features. Sam took Erik and placed him back in his stroller to sleep. She delicately placed her hand on Danny's cheek and made him look at her. She smiled lovingly at him and gave him a kiss.

"Daniel Fenton, I love you. You know that. And I would never leave you. At least not without putting up a damn good fight." Sam murmured when she pulled away.

"Good," Danny whispered, pulling Sam back in to kiss her.

_This was one of my first attempts at something dramatic. I redid it a few times, hoping to make it better, and this is what I ended up with. I hope it wasn't too horrible. Tell me what you thought!_

_And if you're curious, I might be writing a full-length DP fic. It's future set, and this one-shot takes place within my own little DPverse. So obviously Erik as well as Azure (I never mentioned her name, but she's Jazz's daughter) will be in it. Plus quite a few new OCs. Just give it a chance, alright? I asked another DP fan and she thought that this idea was the best (Thank you Lacey!)._

_Thanks for reading! _

_Anne_


End file.
